Chapter 10: Listening to Anthony Bourdain

Civil journalist Maria Bustillos shares a recording of her epic interview with America’s unofficial ambassador.

Anthony Bourdain did a very unusual interview a few months before his death: he spent an afternoon with Maria Bustillos, founder of Popula.com and the first journalist to join the Civil platform. Bourdain Confidential, her piece about their wonderfully philosophical and fiery conversation, went viral when she published it in July. Now, for the first time, Maria shares her audio recording of their time together; hear Bourdain’s take on Obama, his choice words for other celebrities, and why he felt he could never share his happiest travel moments with his TV audience.

GO DEEPER:
Fiction Confidential is an in-depth analysis of Bourdain’s books that Maria wrote (and he loved). They met in February at The Coliseum, a Manhattan restaurant/bar that just closed forever. After writing Inside the Fight Over Bitcoin’s Future and other articles for the New Yorker, Maria became obsessed with blockchain technology. Manoush and Jen reference this Twitter conversation in their update. The new and excellent podcast we mention at the end is NYCFAQ. The book Maria recommends is The History Thieves. The information war is on. Several listeners have asked about the Goethe quote from Chapter 9 (and the debate surrounding its provenance).

An important note:
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, don’t hesitate. Call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or click here for numbers outside the U.S.

Credits:
David Herman, Audio Engineer and Composer 
Matt Boynton and Dan Dzula, Audio Engineers
Jordan Lauf, Intern
Alice Rutherford, Illustrations